Hi all...
Not sure what i'm posting for really....i just came across this site whilst searching for answers so i thought i would share my story.
My two babies were four and a half. They were house rabbits, with their own bunny proofed bedroom (which everyone called rabbit kingdom due to the amount of tunnels and toys they had!).I guess i treated them more like children. Gizmo has always had problems with molar spurs and was due to have an anaesthetic within the next few weeks to have them filed down. We were both terribly worried he wouldnt wake from the anaesthetic. They both also had minor health problems - Bugsy had bitten Gizmo in his private bits when they were only weeks old, so Gizmo has always urinated sideways, and Bugsy had recently become incontinent, so i would wash both rabbits daily and sudocrem them. They were used to it and i think they knew i was trying to help.
On 21st June were went on holiday abroad for a week, and i took the boys to my parents house to be looked after the day before, Wednesday 20th. They always cared for them like their own, washing them and playing with them. They have been to their house 5 or 6 times now and settle in straight away. They don't have the run of the house at my parents, as they have a dog (Who my boys loved) and their home isnt bunny proofed like mine, so we always put their cages in a small room and keep the door shut. Both rabbits, apart from the problems i descibed, were completely healthy.
Last Tuesday, 26th, we had a terrible message from my parents that my babies had both died. I just cant get my head around it. My mum had checked on them at 10am and they were fine. She went to bed and came back at 1.55 and they were both gone. They were both in their sleeping positions, Gizmo on his pillow, and Bugsy curled round looking like he was asleep. They had both demolished their breakfast at 8am, had eaten loads of hay and at 10am were playing with their toys and begging for more food and treats. My mum had given them some dandelion root at 10am (which i used to buy from poland as it helped Gizmos teeth) but i dont think it could have been that as they have been having it for years. The one thing that does concern me is that the hay they had at 8am - it was a brand new bag from pets at home. But pets at home hay has never been great quality - i had a bag at christmas that was infested with moths and moth larvae and another bag a few months back that had orange stringy/plastic type stuff. We have found a lab that will test hay for mycotoxins, so are getting it sent off shortly.
The other thing that concerns me is vhd. Both boys had the myxo jab, but their vhd wasnt up to date. They had the vaccination for the first two years, but my boys get so distressed going to the vet, and the vet told me it wasnt needed, so we didnt get their last booster done. Now it worries me that my parents have a dog, and although she didnt touch the boys, she did come into their room on the day they arrived, the Wednesday. But then we have looked after the dog so many times before and she has been much closer to them in the past. Its just never occurred to me that she could give them something. I hate myself for not getting their vhd kept up to date. But then there has never bee an outbreak in our area. Surely if it was vhd they would have died before the tuesday if they'd caught it on the wedesday? And they would have had some signs after death? There was no blood or anything, both boys were their usual happy selves and and vet who checked them over couldnt find any blood and said their deaths were unexplained. I know vhd is often symptomless, but vets i have spoken to say you can usually tell after the death. But the boys had nothing. They both just went to sleep and for some reason didnt wake up. Whats ironic is that they did actually have the vhd jab - they had the new combi myxo-vhd jab on 7th june. But i know it takes 21 days before they develop immunity to vhd so they wouldnt have been immune. And then it occurs to me that maybe they both reacted to the new jab and thats what caused their deaths. I just wish i'd never let them have it. Then part of me thinks maybe it was the heat, but the fan was on, they both had fresh water, and they both had these ice packs which Bugsy always used whenever he's hot. And he was nowhere near it. We couldnt open the windows because of the stupid flies - Bugsy's incontinence would have put him at high risk.
I just cant get my head around it. I miss them so much. We didnt have a post mortem as we didnt want their little bodies going through that. I cant explain how heartbreaking it was to get that message on holiday. We got the first flight home that we could and went to see them in the vets. The vet offered her condolences and we asked her what we thought it was and she just said herself that it didnt make sense and that it was completely unexplained. She was a small animal specialist. Part of me thinks that Gizmo wasnt going to survive his next teeth op and this was Gods way of letting them both go together. That is my only consolation, as they couldnt have lived without one another. I just feel so guilty that i left them to go on holiday. My parents cant get over this either as they feel responsible. My house feels so empty. Their bedroom is just unbearable. Does anyone know when the pain will start to subside? I cant imagine life ever being the same again
sorry for the long post xxxxxxx
Not sure what i'm posting for really....i just came across this site whilst searching for answers so i thought i would share my story.
My two babies were four and a half. They were house rabbits, with their own bunny proofed bedroom (which everyone called rabbit kingdom due to the amount of tunnels and toys they had!).I guess i treated them more like children. Gizmo has always had problems with molar spurs and was due to have an anaesthetic within the next few weeks to have them filed down. We were both terribly worried he wouldnt wake from the anaesthetic. They both also had minor health problems - Bugsy had bitten Gizmo in his private bits when they were only weeks old, so Gizmo has always urinated sideways, and Bugsy had recently become incontinent, so i would wash both rabbits daily and sudocrem them. They were used to it and i think they knew i was trying to help.
On 21st June were went on holiday abroad for a week, and i took the boys to my parents house to be looked after the day before, Wednesday 20th. They always cared for them like their own, washing them and playing with them. They have been to their house 5 or 6 times now and settle in straight away. They don't have the run of the house at my parents, as they have a dog (Who my boys loved) and their home isnt bunny proofed like mine, so we always put their cages in a small room and keep the door shut. Both rabbits, apart from the problems i descibed, were completely healthy.
Last Tuesday, 26th, we had a terrible message from my parents that my babies had both died. I just cant get my head around it. My mum had checked on them at 10am and they were fine. She went to bed and came back at 1.55 and they were both gone. They were both in their sleeping positions, Gizmo on his pillow, and Bugsy curled round looking like he was asleep. They had both demolished their breakfast at 8am, had eaten loads of hay and at 10am were playing with their toys and begging for more food and treats. My mum had given them some dandelion root at 10am (which i used to buy from poland as it helped Gizmos teeth) but i dont think it could have been that as they have been having it for years. The one thing that does concern me is that the hay they had at 8am - it was a brand new bag from pets at home. But pets at home hay has never been great quality - i had a bag at christmas that was infested with moths and moth larvae and another bag a few months back that had orange stringy/plastic type stuff. We have found a lab that will test hay for mycotoxins, so are getting it sent off shortly.
The other thing that concerns me is vhd. Both boys had the myxo jab, but their vhd wasnt up to date. They had the vaccination for the first two years, but my boys get so distressed going to the vet, and the vet told me it wasnt needed, so we didnt get their last booster done. Now it worries me that my parents have a dog, and although she didnt touch the boys, she did come into their room on the day they arrived, the Wednesday. But then we have looked after the dog so many times before and she has been much closer to them in the past. Its just never occurred to me that she could give them something. I hate myself for not getting their vhd kept up to date. But then there has never bee an outbreak in our area. Surely if it was vhd they would have died before the tuesday if they'd caught it on the wedesday? And they would have had some signs after death? There was no blood or anything, both boys were their usual happy selves and and vet who checked them over couldnt find any blood and said their deaths were unexplained. I know vhd is often symptomless, but vets i have spoken to say you can usually tell after the death. But the boys had nothing. They both just went to sleep and for some reason didnt wake up. Whats ironic is that they did actually have the vhd jab - they had the new combi myxo-vhd jab on 7th june. But i know it takes 21 days before they develop immunity to vhd so they wouldnt have been immune. And then it occurs to me that maybe they both reacted to the new jab and thats what caused their deaths. I just wish i'd never let them have it. Then part of me thinks maybe it was the heat, but the fan was on, they both had fresh water, and they both had these ice packs which Bugsy always used whenever he's hot. And he was nowhere near it. We couldnt open the windows because of the stupid flies - Bugsy's incontinence would have put him at high risk.
I just cant get my head around it. I miss them so much. We didnt have a post mortem as we didnt want their little bodies going through that. I cant explain how heartbreaking it was to get that message on holiday. We got the first flight home that we could and went to see them in the vets. The vet offered her condolences and we asked her what we thought it was and she just said herself that it didnt make sense and that it was completely unexplained. She was a small animal specialist. Part of me thinks that Gizmo wasnt going to survive his next teeth op and this was Gods way of letting them both go together. That is my only consolation, as they couldnt have lived without one another. I just feel so guilty that i left them to go on holiday. My parents cant get over this either as they feel responsible. My house feels so empty. Their bedroom is just unbearable. Does anyone know when the pain will start to subside? I cant imagine life ever being the same again
sorry for the long post xxxxxxx
